October 2011

10/11/2011

Lately, while stumbling on my latest manuscript, I’ve finally come to realize I really haven’t taken time to get to know my characters. So I think I’ll invite them over for drinks and appetizers.

I need to sit down with each one of them individually and get to know them on a deeper level. What makes them tick, their quirks, their idiosyncrasies.

One of my on-line colleagues on AgentQueryConnect.com developed a list of nine questions writers should ask their characters to help make them better-rounded. Questions like “what is your goal?” and “what stands in your way?” and others about their hobbies, secret dreams, education, biggest fear, etc.

They are all good starting points. But I when I sit down with each of my characters, I’ll also ask them “what is the one secret about yourself you absolutely will not share with anyone else?” and “what would happen if it got out?” and “what do you really think about so-and-so?” and “what more than anything else about so-and-so pushes you completely over the edge?”

This’ll be fun, considering several of them are involved in a pretty interesting little conspiracy and have plenty of flaws. But I tell ya, they're probably gonna hate me when I'm done.

10/03/2011

That’s it. I’m done. No more self-addressed, stamped envelopes and no more easily-ignored emails.

I’m done querying.

For those unfamiliar with this practice, the query process is both a time-honored and, until recently, necessary facet of becoming a published author. It entails pitching your work to a literary agent via a letter, wherein you briefly describe your book’s plot and provide a word count and genre. Then you send it off good intentions and hope aflutter in your heart.

Next, you wait for the rejections to roll in. Maybe an agent will take a liking to your query and ask for a partial of your manuscript, perhaps three or five chapters or the first 50 pages, or they may REALLY get your hopes up and request the whole thing, e.g., a “full.”

I had moderate success in querying LOCO MOCO MAMA, at least in terms of percentage of agents who asked either for a partial or a full. True, I pulled in enough rejection letters and e-mails to wallpaper my guest bathroom. But a handful of agents showed some semblance of interest in my pithy prose. Yet after I sent them the material they requested, they went silent.

It could be my query stunk to high heaven. The same may be true for my writing. But either way, I’ve come to a decision not only for LOCO MOCO MAMA but also for any future stuff I write: I’m saving my money and aggravation and will no longer query agents. (Although the idea of going another direction remains tempting. But some things are better left unsaid.)

I have a thick skin so rejection is no big deal. That’s why sending queries and waiting for the subsequent rejections became something of a game for me. But with the advent of self-publishing platforms including print-on-demand and e-publishing services, I believe the querying process is a grand anachronism of an industry holding tight to its traditions while trying to comprehend and keep pace with light-speed changes taking place in and around it.

Over on Agent Query Connect I’ve posted a poll asking my fellow AQCers if they believe querying is passé or has maintained its relevance. As of this writing, polling on the question “Has the ability to self-publish your book made you more likely, less likely, or had no effect at all on whether you continue querying agents?” is a dead heat – three votes each for More Likely and Less Likely.

The responses also are interesting. One fellow writer opined, “I think every writer should go through the querying process, no matter what genre they’re writing. It teaches them the meaning of patience, and they get a good understanding of just what’s expected of them as a writer.” Another wrote, “I will query and hope, but then again, I'm a wide-eyed optimist who has yet to send out her first query letter. Self publishing is definitely something I will consider after reaching my limit on rejections (whatever that limit may be, I do not know).”

Still another replied, “Querying worked for me so I have no beef with the process. Around the same time I found my agent a very close friend found hers. We both got book deals. More recently a dear friend picked up an agent and sold her book in under a month. So I guess I don't find the query process obsolete.”

But another offered this bit of wisdom: “I’ve decided I will self-publish my work, for better or worse. Others have done it and been successful. Of course, the multitudes of self-published writers have not. But if, as they say, about 80-90% of traditionally published writers don’t earn back their advance, then what’s the stigma? I self-pubbed my book of short stories, without making a profit in mind, just to learn how to do it, and it was very satisfying. I'll be self-publishing my first novel within a few months. I'm excited about it. It's a new world for writers. I'm glad it's changed.”

Me, too. I know I’ll probably make bupkis when I e-pub LOCO MOCO MAMA, but that’s probably what I would make through the traditional process. And at least it’ll be out there, my foot in the door, so to speak.

Ultimately, that’s something an endless string of rejected queries would never provide.

UPDATE: The vote as of 5:25 p.m. PDT is 4 for Less Likely, 3 for More Likely. For what that's worth.